Wananchi: Why national IDs remain unclaimed

DAR ES SALAAM: FRUSTRATION is boiling over in Dar es Salaam as residents find that the simple act of collecting their national identity cards has become a source of significant stress and wasted time.

Faced with a system plagued by delays and requiring repeated, often fruitless, trips to National Identification Authority (NIDA) offices, citizens are demanding a radical overhaul of the current procedures.

Their frustrations are amplified by NIDA’s recent announcement that it will soon suspend the use of National Identification Numbers (NINs) for individuals who have been notified but have failed to turn up to collect their cards.

The mounting challenges have spurred citizens to urgently call for a more flexible and streamlined system to ease the burden of national ID collection.

The atmosphere at the NIDA office in Ilala District, where a large crowd of concerned residents had gathered to check on their IDs, was thick with frustration.

There, speaking to Daily News, multiple individuals articulated their deep dissatisfaction with the existing, inefficient collection procedures.

While preferring to remain anonymous, their shared experiences painted a consistent picture of a frustrating and inefficient system.

One resident, echoing the sentiments of many, expressed his exasperation after making more than three fruitless trips to the office, despite having received an SMS notification confirming his card was ready.

“The process is simply not user-friendly,” he said, highlighting the confusion and wasted time involved in repeated, unsuccessful visits to the NIDA offices.

Another citizen, also requesting anonymity, identified the collection process itself as the primary obstacle.

“You receive the message informing that your ID is ready, but when you arrive at NIDA offices, you’re often told the cards haven’t been delivered or the network is down,” she recounted.

“You can easily spend two entire days and still leave empty-handed.” Her frustration was palpable as she contrasted the official announcements with the onthe-ground reality.

“They make it sound straightforward, but the reality at the NIDA office is long queues, disorganisation and ultimately, a wasted day with nothing to show for it,” she said.

In response to the concerns, NIDA Ilala District Registration Officer, who also serves as the Regional Registration Officer for Dar es Salaam, John Etimba said that there have been efforts made to enable the ID collection process more convenient for the citizens.

He said that NIDA has taken various initiatives such as increasing staff and extending working hours to accommodate the growing number of individuals seeking services.

He acknowledged the congestion at offices and urged citizens to be patient, citing the high demand for IDs as a contributing factor to the delays.

Mr Etimba further encouraged citizens not to wait until the deadline is announced to rush for their national ID cards, advising that once an individual receives an SMS notification that their ID is ready, they should make an effort to collect it as soon as possible.

He said that waiting until the last minute is one of the main causes of congestion at NIDA offices.

He also asserted that some of the congestion is caused by individuals who visit the offices repeatedly without having received a notification SMS and in some cases, people even forge messages to try to collect their cards prematurely.

He said such actions force NIDA to spend much time thoroughly verifying every case, further slowing the process.

“These issues contribute to the overcrowding at our offices and affect even those who are legitimately due to collect their IDs. We urge the public to follow the instructions provided,” he said.

Speaking on Monday this week, NIDA Director General James Kaji expressed authority’s dissatisfaction with the slow pace of ID collection, despite extensive efforts to notify and encourage citizens to retrieve their cards.

He said that the Authority launched a nationwide ID collection campaign in January, whereas by March 23, this year a total of 1,880,608 citizens of those who had yet to collect their IDs had been sent SMS notifications.

However, he said, only 565,876 individuals, or about 30 per cent of those contacted, responded and collected their IDs.